Dear Engaged Bystander: Most of you will be familiar with the story of Phoebe Prince of South Hadley, MA. She recently committed suicide after weeks and month of bullying by both boys and girls in her high school. From her death and the suicide of a young boy in Springfield, MA from bullying a new law was created in Massachusetts to encourage education, ensure that each school develop policies about bullying, and mandate reporting of bullying as well.

Dear Engaged Bystander: Every day, there are stories of engaged bystanders taking action. Just this week, I read a letter to the editor in my local paper about the assistant manager of our small Taco Bell/KFC restaurant who saw a car hit a young woman on a bicycle and rushed out of the building to help. The author said: “Thank God this woman [the general manager] was able to act in a quick manner. She not only called 911, but she held the victim’s hand, instructing her not to move to prevent further injury, to take deep breaths, calm down, and that help was on the way.”

Dear Engaged Bystander: I am not someone who watches a lot of TV, but this new program, "What Would You Do?" fascinates me. The premise of the ABC "News" Program is that they have various situations played by actors and then see how people react. There are a number of scenarios that are well worth watching:

Dear Engaged Bystander: I have always questioned why good people can do horrible things and what motivates someone to go out of their way to help someone they don't even know. As I watch what pops up through various list-serves, etc. I am intrigued by the research that is not directly within the field of sexual violence.

I recently came across the Heroic Imagination Project. It is a project of Dr. Philip Zimbardo who you may know thought the Standford Prison Experiments. In their words:

Dear Engaged Bystander: I was listening to the stories of two bridges on "This American Life" and was struck by the contrast. The first is the Yangtze River Bridge, a massive bridge in China, known for it's massive size and high suicide rate. You can read about Mr.

Dear Engaged Bystander: It seems that EVERY news story ends with a similar refrain: nothing is safe so women and children should protect themselves... The message seems to be designed to keep us all immobized with fear and the knowledge that "it" will happen at any time and especially when you least expect it.

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